


drum on my rib cage

by ShyAudacity



Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Gen, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, No Romance, Platonic Relationships, Prompt Fill, Sick Eddie Diaz, Sickfic, Stranded, Worried Evan "Buck" Buckley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28678152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: This last trip back into the woods, though, Eddie seems to have gotten himself lost, and he can’t remember which way will bring him back to the trucks.Of course, this would happen today, right when he can feel himself starting to get sick. He’s been coughing into his arm since he woke up this morning and his throat feels like sandpaper. His head is starting to hurt, too. Luckily, he’s got the weekend off after this it’ll give him plenty of time to recover… if he can get out of the trees, that is.ORFor Bingo Square: Stranded/Lost.
Relationships: Eddie Diaz & Firehouse 118 Crew (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: Bad Things Happen Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101905
Comments: 12
Kudos: 108





	drum on my rib cage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kitkat0723](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitkat0723/gifts).



> I'm extra excited to finally partake in BTHB! Kat told me forever ago that she wanted platonic buddie and I just to deliver when she told me her idea. I hope you love your fic, my friend!
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from Resonant Body by Maggie Rogers.

Eddie is starting to wonder if someone has a vendetta against him. That would explain why he keeps finding himself in these situations.

Every once and a while, the one-eighteen will get called out to a campground to help search for some missing campers. Usually, it’s no big deal; they find the campers and give them medical attention if it’s needed then head back to the fire station, but not today. He was able to track down the first two people just fine. This last trip back into the woods, though, Eddie seems to have gotten himself lost, and he can’t remember which way will bring him back to the trucks.

Of course, this would happen today, right when he can feel himself starting to get sick. He’s been coughing into his arm since he woke up this morning and his throat feels like sandpaper. His head is starting to hurt, too. Luckily, he’s got the weekend off after this it’ll give him plenty of time to recover… if he can get out of the trees, that is. He just hopes he can get out of here before it starts to get dark. Otherwise, he’ll really be in trouble.

He’s tired of getting stuck in places where people can’t get to him.

Buck helps the last lost hiker limp over to Hen and Chimney as he comes out of the trees. How six different people managed to get themselves split up across multiple trails, he’ll never know. He goes to the truck and pulls out two water bottles as he catches his breath, tucking the extra one under his arm. As he takes a swig of his water, he looks around trying to find Eddie and is surprised to not see him. There’s no sign of him anywhere.

“Eddie’s not back yet?”

Bobby looks at Buck funny. “He’s not with you?”

He shakes his head. “No, we split up half a mile in to cover more ground. Last time I talked to him on the radio he said he was circling back. That was twenty minutes ago, at least.”

Bobby reaches for his radio and clicks the receiver. “One-Eighteen, this is Captain Nash calling for a headcount.”

Buck spouts off his own name even though he’s standing right there, the fiddles with his own radio as he listens to everyone rattle off their own names. He starts to squirm when there’s still no response from Eddie.

“Diaz, come in. Status report.” The only sounds around them come from the wind and random chatter of the hikers waiting by the ambulance. Bobby tries again, “Diaz, status report.”

When there’s still nothing, Buck feels his nerves kick up a notch. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Chimney walk out from the other side of the rig. “Still nothing?”

Bobby shakes his head. “He must be out of range. We’ll try him again in a few minutes. He can’t have gone too far.”

Buck tries not to let it eat at him. He shoves the extra water bottle in the pocket of his turnout pants and tries to occupy himself with getting all the gear back into the truck. Buck looks over his shoulder periodically towards the trees, hoping with each glance that the next time he looks Eddie will be there.

Eddie feels hot and achy all over. He’d take his turnout coat off but it’s the only thing protecting him from the light, chilly rain that started coming down. His boots keep slipping in the mud and making him lose his footing. Faceplanting and making himself a mess is the last thing that he wants right now.

He’s been walking for god only knows how long when he finally stops and sits for a minute, just to catch his breath. Eddie feels around for his radio only to find that it’s no longer on him; it must’ve come off at some point while he was walking. Just his luck. 

He drops down on a rock right in front of a tree, leaning his head back and letting the rainwater mist across his face. Eddie only ends up more winded when he gets up again and immediately feels like he has to cough. His chest and head hurt from the force of it. No matter how much he hacks, the feeling won’t go away.

All of this is taking so much longer than he expected; he just wants someplace warm where he can nap.

It could be his mind playing tricks on him, but he thinks he sees a light up ahead. He hopes it’s the trucks. Otherwise, he doesn’t know what he’ll do.

Buck is very subtly trying not to lose his mind. Eddie walked into the woods _an hour_ ago and no one has heard from him, they’ve all tried his radio a thousand times. That’s his best friend out there and he can’t do anything to help. The steady, growing rain is starting to make him nervous.

“Are you sure we can’t go in after him?” Buck asks Bobby, trying to avoid sounding as desperate as he feels.

Then, before he can answer, Bobby’s radio crackles again, and everyone within earshot goes silent.

_“Captain Nash, this Joanna from the camp offices,”_ she says. _“I just spotted one of your firefighters walking around near the trail entrances. I think he got a little turned around; would you like me to say something to him?”_

Buck and Bobby both look at each other funny; the entrance is three miles in the opposite direction of where the trucks are parked, how could he have ended up all the way over there?

“No, we’ll pull the trucks around and find him ourselves,” Bobby tells her. “Thank you for the information. Alright- everyone into the trucks. Let’s get Eddie and then get out this rain.”

Buck scrambles to get into the front seat of the truck, watching in the rearview mirrors as everyone else follows suit. It takes a few minutes for the trucks to make their way up to the front, but to Buck, it feels like forever.

As soon as they round the last corner, Buck spots Eddie wandering around near the entrance and it takes everything in him not to jump out of the truck right then and there. He waits until John puts the truck in park before getting out and making his way towards Eddie; he appears to be none the wiser that the trucks have pulled up in front of him.

Eddie looks wiped out when Buck gets to him. He’s shaky in an unusual way and flush around his face, also breathing heavier than usual. He looks up at Buck with an exhausted expression. “I got lost.”

Buck tries not to pity him too much, knowing Eddie would hate it. “I know, buddy. C’mon, let’s go see Hen for a minute.”

Hen is already out of the ambulance with her bag open in front of her. She pulls a face when she listens to Eddie’s chest and the way that he keeps coughing into his arm. “Eddie, are you feeling okay? Your airways sound congested.” 

“It’s a little hard to breathe.”

“Does it hurt?”

Eddie just nods, but Buck knows that it’s bothering him more than he lets on. “How long has this been going on?”

“Woke up feeling bad this morning,” Eddie says tiredly. “Thought it was just a- a cold.” A coughing fit cuts him off, harsh and loud; Buck steadies him with a hand on his shoulder when it starts to eat at what little energy Eddie has left.

“You need to go get checked out at the hospital,” Hen says firmly. “If it’s just a cold then it’s just a cold and you can sleep it off, but if it’s something more then you need to get ahead of it before you start to feel worse.” 

Eddie rubs a tremoring hand over his face before agreeing with a nod. He mumbles, “I’m not going in the ambo.”

Hen laughs to herself with a shake of her head; Buck moves his arm around Eddie’s shoulders guiding him back to the truck.

When they get to the side door, Buck motions for John to trade seats with him so that he can sit with Eddie. Buck keeps his shoulder pressed against Eddie’s in the truck; he doesn’t say anything when Eddie slumps in his seat and rests his head on Buck’s shoulder. He knows Eddie needs this, even if he won’t come right out and say it.

He pulls the forgotten water bottle out of his pocket and into Eddie’s hands. Eddie mumbles a thank you against his turnout coat and Buck just pats him on the arm, watching out the window as they drive away from the campgrounds.

An hour and three painful coughing fits later shows them that Eddie has the beginnings of Pneumonia. He’s not shaking as much now, but Buck thinks that’s mostly the IV they put in where Eddie arrived. The doctor prescribes him some antibiotics and tells him to take the next few days off until he’s no longer contagious. Eddie looks irritated by all of it, but Buck guesses that’s the fever eating at him more than anything.

When the doctor finally leaves them alone, Buck watches Eddie lie back against the hospital bed and throw his arms over his eyes. He’s still in his uniform, otherwise, Buck thinks Eddie would fall asleep right here. He gives Eddie a minute to process all of it before saying, “How do you wanna do this?”

Eddie pulls his arm away, squinting against the harsh fluorescent lights. “I need to call Abuela; I don’t want Chris to catch this.” Then with a scratchy voice says, “Come over? It’s no fun being sick all alone and I hate being at the house when Christopher isn’t there.” 

Buck just smiles, says “Whatever you need.” He lets Eddie lay there with his arm over his eyes for another ten minutes, just cause. Besides, if all of this was Eddie, Buck knows that Eddie would’ve done the same for him. That’s what friends do.

**Author's Note:**

> I wish that this had been a little longer, but such is life. 
> 
> Hey, thanks for reading my fic! Comments/Kudos are appreciated and encouraged. I'm on tumblr as paranoidbean. Have a great day!


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